National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) is a Tuareg national liberation organization in northern Mali that was founded in October 2011, shortly before the start of the Malian Civil War. The MNLA was founded by several Tuareg veterans of the Libyan Civil War, and it was led by Secretary-General Bilal Ag Acherif, political bureau president Mohamed Ag Aghaly, and military chief Mohamed Ag Najem, who commanded between 9,000 and 10,000 fighters. The MNLA fought as a secular nationalist organization that sought greater autonomy for the northern Tuareg parts of Mali (Azawad), resisting the predominantly-indigenous African central government. By 1 April 2012, the MNLA and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb had succeeded in conquering northern Mali, including Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu, but tensions between the pro-sharia AQIM and the secular MNLA led to the Ansar Dine, MOJWA, and AQIM takeover of Gao and much of Azawad and the destruction of the briefly-independent state of Azawad.